Sunday, September 24, 2006

I'm not the only one who believes Methyl Nitrate was used in 9/11

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous pointed out that I was not the first person to suggest that Methyl Nitrate was added to jet fuel in order to bring down the Twin Towers on 9/11.

Well, that's a nice way of putting it. He actually accused me of plagiarism.

Former CIA agent Robert Baer is someone whose work I've admired for a while. His book "Sleeping With The Devil: How the U.S. Sold it's Soul for Saudi Crude" is a wonderful work detailing the close relationship between the U.S. (Big Oil, the Bush Family etc.) and The House of Sa'ud, which rules Arabia. Along with another book, it was the inspiration for the film Syriana.

Having worked for Aramco and spent a considerable about of time in Saudi, I can testify that he is right to say that Saudi Arabia "kingdom built on thievery, one that nurtures terrorism, destroys any possibility of a middle class based on property rights, and promotes slavery and prostitution." This kingdom also sits on one quarter of the world's oil reserves, thus ensuring that it receives the full support and protection of the U.S. government.

Sleeping With the Devil details the hypocritical and corrupt relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and the potentially calamitous economic consequences of maintaining this Faustian bargain.

More recently, Mr. Baer has written fiction. Or, as many believe, the truth disguised as fiction, because the CIA's publication review board wouldn't allow him to publish evidence of his 9/11 conspiracy theory.

We agree on method, not motive. He blames Iran. I attribute this largely to Baer's obsession with the death of his late colleague, Beirut CIA Station Chief Bill Buckley. He has presented convincing evidence that Iran was responsible for Buckley's murder.

Murdering a CIA officer in the 80s and killing 3,000 American civilians are two different things. As I've said before, I can't prove exactly who carried out 9/11, nor why. But I studied and lived in Iran prior to 9/11. I took a wife there. It's one of the most pro-American populations I've encountered - certainly more so than Saudi Arabia. As Mr. Baer himself must know, most of Saudi Arabia's oil is in the east, in land populated by Saudi Arabia's persecuted Shiite minority. Iran has far more reason to attack the Saudis than they do us, no matter what their megalomaniacal puppet President might say.

I heartily recommend Robert's books, and I'm glad that my readers are finding corrolations between my evidence and the work of other accredited sources. Again, while dissent is encouraged, unfounded accusations of plagiarism are not.